Newly appointed U-19 coach Bojan Hodak has revealed a sad truth about the current state of Malaysian players in this age.
The Croatian was shocked that only three of the 40 trainees understood some of his basic tactical training drills which started two weeks ago.
“I did some basic tactical things with the players and when I asked how many of them did these drills at their clubs, only three put up their hands. Others said they never done them before,” Hodak told Timesport.
“I am not sure how to describe this… a little bit disappointed or shocking, I don’t know. It is very good that we are now focusing on the Under-19 group as they need to learn a lot.”
In the meeting with FAM president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim in July, Hodak, who signs a two-year contract with U-19 team, promised to prepare the young players the skills necessary to make it big at senior level.
His first task will be the AFF U-18 Championship in Yangon, where Malaysia will start their Group A campaign on Monday against Laos. Other teams in the group are Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia.